I'm no professional chef. I don't even own a vegetable peeler. But I work 50 hours a week and feed myself on six dollars a day, and I eat damn good food. So I thought you might like to see how I do it.

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Category Archives: polenta

Okay, guys. This meal took 15 minutes to make, from the minute I walked in the door to the moment I sat down at the table — no joke.

Granted, it did require the purchase of a fresh piece of fish, which I rarely do, but I had to swing by Fred Meyer after work anyway, because the wind today was so strong that it actually tore the face off my A-board at the store and I needed to buy some heavy duty adhesive before going to work tomorrow. And then apparently a container of olives to eat while I drove home.

Anyway, this meal was the result of three super-fast components — a critical feature since I don’t get my days off this week, yet still have to do all my typical prep-before-a-trip stuff, before heading up to my mom’s on Thursday after work.

First, polenta.

(No, unfortunately, that’s not the bottle it came in.)

The ratio for cornmeal is about 3:1, so for myself I combined in a pot 1/3 of a cup of cornmeal, 1 cup of water, a hefty pinch of salt and pepper, a couple shakes of red pepper flakes, and a few sundried tomatoes (I buy them in the bulk aisle, not packed in oil).

I brought all this to a boil, and then reduced to low until the liquid had absorbed; then I added about 1/3 of a cup of milk, gave it a stir and let that absorb as well, then removed it from the heat and kept it covered.

Once it had cooked almost entirely through, I threw a huge pile of greens on top. (This was a bag of greens that I mistakenly thought was mixed greens for salad; turns out New New Seasons has added some sort of kale/mustard pre-torn mix to their bulk bins!)

Atop this I sprinkled a little more salt, pepper, some nutritional yeast, and then a couple squirts of lime juice, and stirred it for about a minute, until the greens had wilted down to a manageable volume.

Fini!

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About Me

I believe in using local, seasonal vegetables. I believe in happy, organic, well-fed meat. I believe in buying the raw materials, rather than prepared foods. However, I do not underestimate the importance of a good snack cupboard, both sweet and salty. I shop on sale. I redeem coupons. I bring a bag lunch, and I always use my leftovers.
Just joining me? Here's a little intro to what this blog's all about:
Oh, and here's a 2012 starting inventory of my kitchen!

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